The House of Reps is demanding an investigation into the Ibadan explosion and an arrest of the culprits.
The House of Representatives has called for an extensive probe into the explosion in Ibadan, Oyo state, that resulted in the death of 3 people, and 77 persons sustaining injuries on Tuesday, January 16, 2023.
The House also called for the arrest and prosecution of persons suspected to be responsible for the blast.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, January 17, 2023, the speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas (APC, Kaduna) described the incident as an unfortunate and terrifying incident.
Recall that, at about 7:45 pm on Tuesday, a massive blast caused by explosives rocked more than 20 buildings in Ibadan, one of Nigeria’s largest cities,
According to the state government, preliminary investigations showed the blast was caused by explosives stored for use in illegal mining operations.
“We have already deployed first responders and all relevant agencies within Oyo state to carry out comprehensive search and rescue operations,” Seyi Makinde, the state governor said.
Speaking on this, Abass extended his condolences to the government and the victims, praying to God to comfort the victims and their families.
“The explosion in a peaceful and populated ancient city like Ibadan is terrifying. It is more worrisome that it happened at a time when the government is tackling various security issues and threats to lives and property.
“My heart goes out to the people of Ibadan, especially the victims and their families over their avoidable losses,” he said.
Earlier, the chairman of the House of Representatives (Reps) committee on ICT, Stanley Olajide (PDP, Oyo) restated the commitment of the House to passing a bill that will ensure state and community policing as part of ongoing efforts aimed at tackling the ravaging insecurity and illegal mining activity in the state.
Olajide made this known during a press briefing held at the National Assembly complex, Abuja, while commiserating with the Oyo State Government and families of victims of the explosion.
He said: “Community policing is one of the smartest ways to police your people. If somebody sees something somebody knows something, they need to speak at the right time.
“Failure to do so will cause a situation like this (explosion in Ibadan). So, we are going to reopen that. Remember that we’ve also been talking about State Police, we’ll be talking about Community Police.
“So, I think you know a situation like this would present an urgency to the matter, so that way we can get the right support that we need to pass whatever legislation that we need to pass for this.”
STAR CHECK: Nigeria can keep tabs on the legislative performance of Rep. Abass throughout the 10th assembly here.
